Interaction apparatus, interaction method, recording medium storing interaction program, and robot

ABSTRACT

An apparatus includes a movement mechanism, a sensor, a microphone, a speaker, a processor and a memory. The processor selects a target region, controls the movement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move to the target region, and causes a speaker to output a first sound. When counting a predetermined number, the processor causes the sensor to trace a movement locus of a user. In a case where the processor has determined that an acquired sound contains a predetermined speech, the processor controls the movement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move through a predetermined space. When the processor has determined that the apparatus is not to intentionally lose in a game of hide-and-seek, the processor controls the movement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move to a target blind spot within the predetermined space, and causes the speaker to output a second sound.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus, a method, a recordingmedium storing a program, and a robot for interacting with a user whiletwo-dimensionally moving through a predetermined space.

2. Description of the Related Art

There is a variety of conceivable situations in which a robot and ahuman, particularly a young child, have communication with each other.Examples of conceivable situations include a situation where the robotand the young child have a conversation with each other using language,a situation where the robot questions the young child and the youngchild answers, a situation where the robot and the young child assumetheir respective roles and play a game that entails actions, and similarsituations.

In a case where the robot and the young child play a game such ashide-and-seek or tag, the robot needs to have a capability of winning avictory over the young child. As an example, in the case ofhide-and-seek where the robot assumes the role of a seeker and the youngchild assumes the role of a hider, the young child can hide in a room ofa house where there are a large number of places that become the robot'sblind spots. Examples of places that become the robot's blind spots inwhich the young child can hide include a space between a door that isopen and a wall, a space that is formed by the young child wrappinghim/herself in a curtain, a space that is formed by the young childwrapping him/herself in a blanket on a sofa, and similar spaces.

In order to find the young child hiding in such a space that becomes ablind spot, the robot needs to recognize, as a blind spot, the space inwhich the young child is hiding and narrow down to the space in whichthe young child is hiding. For example, Japanese Patent No. 5407898discloses a technology for checking how a blind spot exists in a space.

SUMMARY

However, the conventional technology has needed further improvement, asit has difficulty in identifying the position of a blind spot in which auser is hiding, although it can identify the position of a blind spot ina space.

One non-limiting and exemplary embodiment provides an apparatus, amethod, a recording medium storing a program, and a robot that make itpossible to identify a blind spot in which a user is highly likely to behiding and that cannot be seen from the apparatus.

In one general aspect, the techniques disclosed here feature anapparatus for interacting with a user while two-dimensionally movingthrough a predetermined space, including: a movement mechanism; a sensorthat detects an electromagnetic wave or sound wave reflected by anobject; a microphone that acquires a sound of an area around theapparatus; a speaker; a processor; and a memory, wherein in a case wherethe processor has determined that the sound thus acquired contains afirst speech to an effect that the user starts hide-and-seek with theapparatus, the processor selects, with reference to a first table storedin the memory, a first region where the number of blind spots issmallest in the space, the first table associating a plurality ofregions included in the space and the numbers of blind spots in theplurality of regions with each other, the processor controls themovement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move to the first region,the processor causes the speaker to output a first sound, the processorcounts a predetermined number, when counting the predetermined number,the processor causes the sensor to trace a movement locus of the user,in a case where the processor has finished counting the predeterminednumber, the processor causes the speaker to output a sound indicatingthat the processor has finished counting the predetermined number, in acase where the processor has determined that the sound thus acquiredcontains a second speech indicating that the user has finished hiding,the processor controls the movement mechanism to cause the apparatus tomove through an entire region in the space through which the apparatusis able to move, in a case where the sensor has not detected the user bya time the apparatus finishes moving through the entire region, theprocessor selects, with reference to a second table stored in thememory, a first blind spot falling within a predetermined range from anend of the movement locus, the second table associating a blind spot inthe space and a position of the blind spot with each other, theprocessor determines whether the apparatus intentionally loses inhide-and-seek, in a case where the processor has determined that theapparatus does not intentionally lose, the processor controls themovement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move to the first blindspot, the processor causes the speaker to output a second sound, in acase where the processor has determined that the sound thus acquiredcontains a third speech indicating an admission of defeat inhide-and-seek by the user, the processor causes the speaker to output athird sound, and in a case where the processor has determined that thesound thus acquired does not contain the third speech, the processorcauses the speaker to output a fourth sound.

These general and specific aspects may be implemented using a computerprogram, and any combination of systems, methods, and computer programs.

The present disclosure makes it possible to identify a blind spot inwhich the user is highly likely to be hiding and that cannot be seenfrom the apparatus.

It should be noted that general or specific embodiments may beimplemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computerprogram, a storage medium, or any selective combination thereof.

Additional benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments willbecome apparent from the specification and drawings. The benefits and/oradvantages may be individually obtained by the various embodiments andfeatures of the specification and drawings, which need not all beprovided in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and/oradvantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a layout of a room where arobot and a young child play a game;

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a robot according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is an internal perspective view of the robot according to theembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of therobot according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an object position informationtable according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a blind spot target objecttable according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a blind spot map tableaccording to the present embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a visual field of the robot accordingto the present embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing examples of a plurality of regions dividedaccording to the number of blind spots according to the presentembodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a number-of-blind-spots tableaccording to the present embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an intention interpretationtable according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing an example of a process for creating theobject position information table on the basis of data of an objectrecognition sensor according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing an example of a process for creating theblind spot map table on the basis of data of the object positioninformation table according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing an example of a process for creating andupdating the number-of-blind-spots table on the basis of data of theblind spot map table according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a first flow chart for explaining an example of a process bywhich the robot and a young child play hide-and-seek according to thepresent embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a second flow chart for explaining the example of the processby which the robot and the young child play hide-and-seek according tothe present embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a third flow chart for explaining the example of the processby which the robot and the young child play hide-and-seek according tothe present embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing examples of speech text patterns that areoutputted from a speaker according to the present embodiment; and

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing examples of expression patterns that aredisplayed on a display according to the present embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Underlying Knowledge Forming Basis of the Present Disclosure

In a case where a robot including a movement mechanism and a human,particularly a young child under 6, have communication with each other,it is conceivable that they may play a variety of games. Examples ofgames include a game in which the robot finds the young child hidingsomewhere in a house. At a game starting sign from the young child, thegame is started between the young child and the robot. The young childhides in a place in a room of the house where it is hard to findhim/her. After a designated period of time such as 30 seconds or 1minute has elapsed, the robot starts to seek for the hiding young child.In a case where the robot has successfully found the young child byidentifying the place in which the young child is hiding, the robot is awinner. Further, in a case where the robot has failed to identify theplace in which the young child is hiding or a case where the robot haserroneously identified the place in which the young child is hiding, thehiding young child is a winner.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a layout of a room where therobot and the young child play a game. In a case where the game isplayed more than once, it is conceivable that the robot may 100% lose tothe young child. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a room of a house has placesthat make the young child's body invisible from the robot's sight, suchas a gap 1001 that is formed between a door that is open and a wall, asofa 1002 on which the young child can hide by covering him/herself witha blanket, a closet 1003 in which the young child can hide by closingits door, and a curtain 1004 behind which the young child can hide bychanging its shape.

In order to win in a case where the young child hides in such a placethat becomes the robot's blind spot, the robot needs to grasp in advanceblind-spot regions that do not come into sight even when the robot seeksin the room for the young child. A blind spot in the room can beidentified by using the technology of Japanese Patent No. 5407898.

However, even if the robot can identify, using the technology ofJapanese Patent No. 5407898, a plurality of blind-spot regions in theroom that become blind spots when seen from the present position, it isdifficult to narrow down which of the plurality of blind-spot regionsthe young child is hiding in. Even if the robot includes a movementmechanism and is able to move through every place in the room excludingobstacles, the robot needs to include a door opening and closingmechanism, a curtain opening and closing mechanism, or a blanket pullingmechanism in order to identify, from among such a space formed betweenthe door that is open and the wall, such a space formed by the youngchild wrapping him/herself in the curtain, and such a space formed bythe young child wrapping him/herself in the blanket on the sofa, thespace in which the young child is hiding.

However, a robot not including a door opening and closing mechanism, acurtain opening and closing mechanism, or a blanket pulling mechanism isundesirably unable to reach the space formed between the door that isopen and the wall, the space formed by the young child wrappinghim/herself in the curtain, and the space formed by the young childwrapping him/herself in the blanket on the sofa.

Further, in a case where a plurality of blind-spot regions are presentat the start of the game, the blind spot in which the young child cannotbe identified from among the plurality of blind spots. Although therobot can randomly select one blind spot from among the plurality ofblind spots, the young child may not be hiding in the blind spotrandomly selected, and a technology for identifying, from among theplurality of blind spots, the blind spot in which the young child ishiding has not been heretofore studied.

In one general aspect, the techniques disclosed here feature anapparatus for interacting with a user while two-dimensionally movingthrough a predetermined space, including: a movement mechanism; a sensorthat detects an electromagnetic wave or sound wave reflected by anobject; a microphone that acquires a sound of an area around theapparatus; a speaker; a processor; and a memory, wherein in a case wherethe processor has determined that the sound thus acquired contains afirst speech to an effect that the user starts hide-and-seek with theapparatus, the processor selects, with reference to a first table storedin the memory, a first region where the number of blind spots issmallest in the space, the first table associating a plurality ofregions included in the space and the numbers of blind spots in theplurality of regions with each other, the processor controls themovement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move to the first region,the processor causes the speaker to output a first sound, the processorcounts a predetermined number, when counting the predetermined number,the processor causes the sensor to trace a movement locus of the user,in a case where the processor has finished counting the predeterminednumber, the processor causes the speaker to output a sound indicatingthat the processor has finished counting the predetermined number, in acase where the processor has determined that the sound thus acquiredcontains a second speech indicating that the user has finished hiding,the processor controls the movement mechanism to cause the apparatus tomove through an entire region in the space through which the apparatusis able to move, in a case where the sensor has not detected the user bya time the apparatus finishes moving through the entire region, theprocessor selects, with reference to a second table stored in thememory, a first blind spot falling within a predetermined range from anend of the movement locus, the second table associating a blind spot inthe space and a position of the blind spot with each other, theprocessor determines whether the apparatus intentionally loses inhide-and-seek, in a case where the processor has determined that theapparatus does not intentionally lose, the processor controls themovement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move to the first blindspot, the processor causes the speaker to output a second sound, in acase where the processor has determined that the sound thus acquiredcontains a third speech indicating an admission of defeat inhide-and-seek by the user, the processor causes the speaker to output athird sound, and in a case where the processor has determined that thesound thus acquired does not contain the third speech, the processorcauses the speaker to output a fourth sound.

According to this configuration, in a case where the processor hasdetermined that the sound thus acquired contains a first speech to theeffect that the user starts hide-and-seek with the apparatus, theprocessor selects, with reference to a first table stored in the memory,a first region where the number of blind spots is smallest in the space.The first table associates a plurality of regions included in the spaceand the numbers of blind spots in the plurality of regions with eachother. The processor controls the movement mechanism to cause theapparatus to move to the first region. The processor causes the speakerto output a first sound. The processor counts a predetermined number.When counting the predetermined number, the processor causes the sensorto trace a movement locus of the user. In a case where the processor hasfinished counting the predetermined number, the processor causes thespeaker to output a sound indicating that the processor has finishedcounting the predetermined number. In a case where the processor hasdetermined that the sound thus acquired contains a second speechindicating that the user has finished hiding, the processor controls themovement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move through an entireregion in the space through which the apparatus is able to move. In acase where the sensor has not detected the user by the time theapparatus finishes moving through the entire region, the processorselects, with reference to a second table stored in the memory, a firstblind spot falling within a predetermined range from an end of themovement locus. The second table associates a blind spot in the spaceand a position of the blind spot with each other. The processordetermines whether the apparatus intentionally loses in hide-and-seek.In a case where the processor has determined that the apparatus does notintentionally lose, the processor controls the movement mechanism tocause the apparatus to move to the first blind spot. The processorcauses the speaker to output a second sound. In a case where theprocessor has determined that the sound thus acquired contains a thirdspeech indicating an admission of defeat in hide-and-seek by the user,the processor causes the speaker to output a third sound. In a casewhere the processor has determined that the sound thus acquired does notcontain the third speech, the processor causes the speaker to output afourth sound.

Accordingly, after the movement locus of the user has been traced by thesensor when the predetermined number has been counted and the user ishiding in the first region where the number of blind spots is smallestin the space, a movement to the entire region through which theapparatus is able to move is started, and in a case where the sensor hasnot detected the user by the time the apparatus finishes moving throughthe entire region, the first blind spot falling within the predeterminedrange from the end of the movement locus of the user is selected and theapparatus is moved to the first blind spot. Note here that the firstblind spot can be said to be a blind spot in which the user is highlylikely to have hidden, as the first blind spot falls within thepredetermined range from the end of the movement locus of the user. Thismakes it possible to identify a blind spot in which the user is highlylikely to be hiding and that cannot been seen from the apparatus.

Further, the apparatus may be configured such that in a case where theprocessor has determined that the apparatus intentionally loses, theprocessor selects, with reference to the second table, a second blindspot falling outside the predetermined range, the processor controls themovement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move to the second blindspot, the processor causes the speaker to output the second sound, in acase where the processor has determined that the sound thus acquiredcontains the third speech, the processor causes the speaker to outputthe third sound, and in a case where the processor has determined thatthe sound thus acquired does not contain the third speech, the processorcauses the speaker to output the fourth sound.

According to this configuration, in a case where the processor hasdetermined that the apparatus intentionally loses, the processorselects, with reference to the second table, a second blind spot fallingoutside the predetermined range. The processor controls the movementmechanism to cause the apparatus to move to the second blind spot, andthe processor causes the speaker to output the second sound. In a casewhere the processor has determined that the sound thus acquired containsthe third speech, the processor causes the speaker to output the thirdsound. In a case where the processor has determined that the sound thusacquired does not contain the third speech, the processor causes thespeaker to output the fourth sound.

Accordingly, in a case where the processor has determined that theapparatus intentionally loses, the processor selects the second blindspot falling outside the end of the movement locus of the user. Thismakes it possible to prevent the apparatus from always keeping winning avictory over the user in hide-and-seek.

Further, the apparatus may be configured such that the sensor includesat least one of a camera, an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, anda laser sensor.

According to this configuration, the sensor includes at least one of acamera, an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and a laser sensor.This makes it possible to accurately recognize the position of an objectthat constitutes a blind spot in the predetermined space.

Further, the apparatus may be configured such that in a case where theprocessor has determined that the sound thus acquired does not containthe third speech and where the sensor has detected the user hiding in athird blind spot that is not included in the second table, the processorstores the third blind spot and a position of the third blind spot inthe second table in association with each other.

According to this configuration, in a case where the processor hasdetermined that the sound thus acquired does not contain the thirdspeech and where the sensor has detected the user hiding in a thirdblind spot that is not included in the second table, the processorstores the third blind spot and a position of the third blind spot inthe second table in association with each other.

Accordingly, in a case where a position in which the user was hiding hasnot been stored in the second table, the third blind spot in which theuser was hiding and the position of the third blind spot are stored inthe second table in association with each other. This makes it possibleto improve the precision with which to identify the blind spot in whichthe user is hiding.

Further, the apparatus may be configured such that in a case where thesensor has detected the user by the time the apparatus finishes movingthrough the entire region, the processor causes the speaker to outputthe third sound.

According to this configuration, in a case where the sensor has detectedthe user by the time the apparatus finishes moving through the entireregion, the processor causes the speaker to output the third sound. Thismakes it possible to detect the user in a case where the user is in aplace that does not become a blind spot.

Further, the apparatus may be configured such that in causing the firstsound to be outputted, the processor causes the display to display afirst display corresponding to the first sound, that in causing thesecond sound to be outputted, the processor causes the display todisplay a second display corresponding to the second sound, that incausing the third sound to be outputted, the processor causes thedisplay to display a third display corresponding to the third sound, andthat in causing the fourth sound to be outputted, the processor causesthe display to display a fourth display corresponding to the fourthsound.

According to this configuration, in causing the first sound to beoutputted, the processor causes the display to display a first displaycorresponding to the first sound. Further, in causing the second soundto be outputted, the processor causes the display to display a seconddisplay corresponding to the second sound. Further, in causing the thirdsound to be outputted, the processor causes the display to display athird display corresponding to the third sound. Further, in causing thefourth sound to be outputted, the processor causes the display todisplay a fourth display corresponding to the fourth sound.

Accordingly, in addition to a sound, a display corresponding to thesound is displayed on the display. This allows the user to grasp thecurrent situation not only through hearing but also through sight.

Further, the apparatus may be configured such that the display displaysa facial expression of the apparatus with both eyes and a mouth, thatthe first sound indicates a start of hide-and-seek, and that the firstdisplay indicates a smile.

According to this configuration, after the apparatus has moved to thefirst region, the first sound indicating the start of hide-and-seek isoutputted and the first display indicating a simile is displayed withboth eyes and the mouth. This makes it possible to notify the user ofthe start of hide-and-seek.

Further, the apparatus may be configured such that the display displaysa facial expression of the apparatus with both eyes and a mouth, thatthe second sound indicates that the apparatus has found the user, andthat the second display indicates a smile.

According to this configuration, after the apparatus has moved to thefirst region, the second sound indicating that the apparatus has foundthe user is outputted and the second display indicating a simile isdisplayed with both eyes and the mouth. This makes it possible todetermine the outcome of hide-and-seek by encouraging the user hiding inthe blind spot to come out of the blind spot.

Further, the apparatus may be configured such that the display displaysa facial expression of the apparatus with both eyes and a mouth, thatthe third sound indicates that the apparatus has won a victory over theuser in hide-and-seek, and that the third display indicates a smile.

According to this configuration, in a case where the processor hasdetermined that the sound thus acquired contains a third speechindicating an admission of defeat in hide-and-seek by the user, thethird sound indicating the apparatus has won a victory over the user inhide-and-seek and the third display indicating a smile is displayed withboth eyes and the mouth. This makes it possible to notify that user thatthe apparatus has won a victory over the user in hide-and-seek.

Further, the apparatus may be configured such that the display displaysa facial expression of the apparatus with both eyes and a mouth, thatthe fourth sound indicates that the apparatus has lost to the user inhide-and-seek, and that the fourth display indicates a facial expressionof sorrow.

According to this configuration, in a case where the processor hasdetermined that the sound thus acquired does not contains a third speechindicating an admission of defeat in hide-and-seek by the user, thefourth sound indicating the apparatus has lost to the user inhide-and-seek and the fourth display indicating a facial expression ofsorrow is displayed with both eyes and the mouth. This makes it possibleto notify that user that the apparatus has lost to the user inhide-and-seek.

A robot according to another aspect of the present disclosure includes:a main housing that is a sphere from which a first side part and asecond side part opposite to the first side part have been cut; a firstspherical crown corresponding to the first side part; and a secondspherical crown corresponding to the second side part, and the foregoingapparatus being a robot. This configuration makes it possible to applythe foregoing apparatus to a robot.

A method according to another aspect of the present disclosure is amethod by which an apparatus interacts with a user whiletwo-dimensionally moving through a predetermined space, including: in acase where the apparatus has determined that a sound acquired by amicrophone contains a first speech to an effect that the user startshide-and-seek with the apparatus, selecting, with reference to a firsttable stored in the memory, a first region where the number of blindspots is smallest in the space, the first table associating a pluralityof regions included in the space and the numbers of blind spots in theplurality of regions with each other; controlling a movement mechanismto cause the apparatus to move to the first region; causing the speakerto output a first sound; counting a predetermined number; when countingthe predetermined number, causing a sensor that detects anelectromagnetic wave or sound wave reflected by an object to trace amovement locus of the user; in a case where the apparatus has finishedcounting the predetermined number, causing the speaker to output a soundindicating that the apparatus has finished counting the predeterminednumber; in a case where the apparatus has determined that the soundacquired by the microphone contains a second speech indicating that theuser has finished hiding, controlling the movement mechanism to causethe apparatus to move through an entire region in the space throughwhich the apparatus is able to move; in a case where the sensor has notdetected the user by a time the apparatus finishes moving through theentire region, selecting, with reference to a second table stored in thememory, a first blind spot falling within a predetermined range from anend of the movement locus, the second table associating a blind spot inthe space and a position of the blind spot with each other; determiningwhether the apparatus intentionally loses in hide-and-seek; in a casewhere the apparatus has determined that the apparatus does notintentionally lose, controlling the movement mechanism to cause theapparatus to move to the first blind spot; causing the speaker to outputa second sound; in a case where the apparatus has determined that thesound acquired by the microphone contains a third speech indicating anadmission of defeat in hide-and-seek by the user, causing the speaker tooutput a third sound; and in a case where the apparatus has determinedthat the sound acquired by the microphone does not contain the thirdspeech, causing the speaker to output a fourth sound.

According to this configuration, in a case where the apparatus hasdetermined that a sound acquired by a microphone contains a first speechto the effect that the user starts hide-and-seek with the apparatus, theapparatus selects, with reference to a first table stored in the memory,a first region where the number of blind spots is smallest in the space.The first table associates a plurality of regions included in the spaceand the numbers of blind spots in the plurality of regions with eachother. The apparatus controls a movement mechanism to cause theapparatus to move to the first region. The apparatus causes the speakerto output a first sound. The apparatus counts a predetermined number.When counting the predetermined number, the apparatus causes a sensorthat detects an electromagnetic wave or sound wave reflected by anobject to trace a movement locus of the user. In a case where theapparatus has finished counting the predetermined number, the apparatuscauses the speaker to output a sound indicating that the apparatus hasfinished counting the predetermined number. In a case where theapparatus has determined that the sound acquired by the microphonecontains a second speech indicating that the user has finished hiding,the apparatus controls the movement mechanism to cause the apparatus tomove through an entire region in the space through which the apparatusis able to move. In a case where the sensor has not detected the user bythe time the apparatus finishes moving through the entire region, theapparatus selects, with reference to a second table stored in thememory, a first blind spot falling within a predetermined range from anend of the movement locus. The second table associates a blind spot inthe space and a position of the blind spot with each other. Theapparatus determines whether the apparatus intentionally loses inhide-and-seek. In a case where the apparatus has determined that theapparatus does not intentionally lose, the apparatus controls themovement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move to the first blindspot. The apparatus causes the speaker to output a second sound. In acase where the apparatus has determined that the sound acquired by themicrophone contains a third speech indicating an admission of defeat inhide-and-seek by the user, the apparatus causes the speaker to output athird sound. In a case where the apparatus has determined that the soundacquired by the microphone does not contain the third speech, theapparatus causes the speaker to output a fourth sound.

Accordingly, after the movement locus of the user has been traced by thesensor when the predetermined number has been counted and the user ishiding in the first region where the number of blind spots is smallestin the space, a movement to the entire region through which theapparatus is able to move is started, and in a case where the sensor hasnot detected the user by the time the apparatus finishes moving throughthe entire region, the first blind spot falling within the predeterminedrange from the end of the movement locus of the user is selected and theapparatus is moved to the first blind spot. Note here that the firstblind spot can be said to be a blind spot in which the user is highlylikely to have hidden, as the first blind spot falls within thepredetermined range from the end of the movement locus of the user. Thismakes it possible to identify a blind spot in which the user is highlylikely to be hiding and that cannot been seen from the apparatus.

A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a programaccording to another aspect of the present disclosure is anon-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program forinteracting with a user while two-dimensionally moving through apredetermined space, the program causing a processor of an apparatus forinteracting with the user to execute a process including: in a casewhere the processor has determined that a sound acquired by a microphonecontains a first speech to an effect that the user starts hide-and-seekwith the apparatus, selecting, with reference to a first table stored inthe memory, a first region where the number of blind spots is smallestin the space, the first table associating a plurality of regionsincluded in the space and the numbers of blind spots in the plurality ofregions with each other; controlling a movement mechanism to cause theapparatus to move to the first region; causing the speaker to output afirst sound; counting a predetermined number; when counting thepredetermined number, causing a sensor that detects an electromagneticwave or sound wave reflected by an object to trace a movement locus ofthe user; in a case where the processor has finished counting thepredetermined number, causing the speaker to output a sound indicatingthat the apparatus has finished counting the predetermined number; in acase where the processor has determined that the sound acquired by themicrophone contains a second speech indicating that the user hasfinished hiding, controlling the movement mechanism to cause theapparatus to move through an entire region in the space through whichthe apparatus is able to move; in a case where the sensor has notdetected the user by a time the apparatus finishes moving through theentire region, selecting, with reference to a second table stored in thememory, a first blind spot falling within a predetermined range from anend of the movement locus, the second table associating a blind spot inthe space and a position of the blind spot with each other; determiningwhether the apparatus intentionally loses in hide-and-seek; in a casewhere the processor has determined that the apparatus does notintentionally lose, controlling the movement mechanism to cause theapparatus to move to the first blind spot; causing the speaker to outputa second sound; in a case where the processor has determined that thesound acquired by the microphone contains a third speech indicating anadmission of defeat in hide-and-seek by the user, causing the speaker tooutput a third sound; and in a case where the processor has determinedthat the sound acquired by the microphone does not contain the thirdspeech, causing the speaker to output a fourth sound.

In a case where the processor has determined that a sound acquired by amicrophone contains a first speech to the effect that the user startshide-and-seek with the apparatus, the processor selects, with referenceto a first table stored in the memory, a first region where the numberof blind spots is smallest in the space. The first table associates aplurality of regions included in the space and the numbers of blindspots in the plurality of regions with each other. The processorcontrols a movement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move to thefirst region. The processor causes the speaker to output a first sound.The processor counts a predetermined number. When counting thepredetermined number, the processor causes a sensor that detects anelectromagnetic wave or sound wave reflected by an object to trace amovement locus of the user. In a case where the processor has finishedcounting the predetermined number, the processor causes the speaker tooutput a sound indicating that the apparatus has finished counting thepredetermined number. In a case where the processor has determined thatthe sound acquired by the microphone contains a second speech indicatingthat the user has finished hiding, the processor controls the movementmechanism to cause the apparatus to move through an entire region in thespace through which the apparatus is able to move. In a case where thesensor has not detected the user by the time the apparatus finishesmoving through the entire region, the processor selects, with referenceto a second table stored in the memory, a first blind spot fallingwithin a predetermined range from an end of the movement locus. Thesecond table associates a blind spot in the space and a position of theblind spot with each other. The apparatus determines whether theapparatus intentionally loses in hide-and-seek. In a case where theprocessor has determined that the apparatus does not intentionally lose,the apparatus controls the movement mechanism to cause the apparatus tomove to the first blind spot. The apparatus causes the speaker to outputa second sound. In a case where the processor has determined that thesound acquired by the microphone contains a third speech indicating anadmission of defeat in hide-and-seek by the user, the apparatus causesthe speaker to output a third sound. In a case where the processor hasdetermined that the sound acquired by the microphone does not containthe third speech, the apparatus causes the speaker to output a fourthsound.

Accordingly, after the movement locus of the user has been traced by thesensor when the predetermined number has been counted and the user ishiding in the first region where the number of blind spots is smallestin the space, a movement to the entire region through which theapparatus is able to move is started, and in a case where the sensor hasnot detected the user by the time the apparatus finishes moving throughthe entire region, the first blind spot falling within the predeterminedrange from the end of the movement locus of the user is selected and theapparatus is moved to the first blind spot. Note here that the firstblind spot can be said to be a blind spot in which the user is highlylikely to have hidden, as the first blind spot falls within thepredetermined range from the end of the movement locus of the user. Thismakes it possible to identify a blind spot in which the user is highlylikely to be hiding and that cannot been seen from the apparatus.

An embodiment for carrying out the present disclosure is described belowwith reference to the drawings. Identical signs refer to identicalobjects throughout all of the following drawings unless otherwise noted.It should be noted that each of the embodiments to be described belowshows an example of the present disclosure. The numerical values,shapes, constituent elements, steps, and orders of steps that are shownin the following embodiments are mere examples and are not intended tolimit the present disclosure. Further, those of the constituent elementsaccording to the following embodiments which are not recited in anindependent claim representing the most generic concept are described asoptional constituent elements. Further, the contents of each of theembodiments may be combined with the contents of the other embodiment.

Embodiment

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a robot 100, which is anexample of an interaction apparatus 200, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure, and FIG. 3 is an internal perspective view ofthe robot 100, which is an example of the interaction apparatus 200,according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 2, the robot 100 (interaction apparatus 200) includes amain housing 201 that is spherical, a first spherical crown 202, and asecond spherical crown 203. The main housing 201, the first sphericalcrown 202, and the second spherical crown 203 constitute a sphere as awhole. That is, the robot 100 has a spherical shape. The robot 100interacts with a user while two-dimensionally moving through apredetermined space. The first spherical crown 202 and the secondspherical crown 203 is coupled to each other by a shaft (notillustrated) provided in the main housing 201. Meanwhile, the shaft andthe main housing 201 are not fixed to each other. Accordingly, rotatingthe shaft causes the first spherical crown 202 and the second sphericalcrown 203 to rotate, allowing the robot 100 to move forward or movebackward.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the robot 100 includes a speaker 118 in themain housing 201, and includes a camera 204 and a microphone 109 in thefirst spherical crown 202. The speaker 118 outputs a sound of the robot100. The camera 204 acquires a picture of an environment surrounding therobot 100. The microphone 109 acquires a sound of the environmentsurrounding the robot 100. In the present aspect, the robot 100 includesthe speaker 118 in the main housing 201. However, this does not implyany limitation. The robot 100 needs only include the speaker 118 in anyof the main housing 201, the first spherical crown 202, and the secondspherical crown 203. In the present aspect, the robot 100 includes thecamera 204 in the first spherical crown 202. However, this does notimply any limitation. The robot 100 needs only include the camera 204 inany of the main housing 201, the first spherical crown 202, and thesecond spherical crown 203. Adjusting the locations and number ofcameras 204 makes it possible to acquire a 360-degree picture of an areaaround the robot 100. In the present aspect, the robot 100 includes themicrophone 109 in the first spherical crown 202. However, this does notimply any limitation. The robot 100 needs only include the microphone109 in any of the main housing 201, the first spherical crown 202, andthe second spherical crown 203.

As shown in FIG. 3, the robot 100 includes a first display unit 116 a, asecond display unit 116 b, and a third display unit 116 c inside themain housing 201. The first display unit 116 a, the second display unit116 b, and the third display unit 116 c are seated on a fixed metalplate 205. The fixed metal plate 205 is attached to the shaft via an arm206. The first display unit 116 a, the second display unit 116 b, andthe third display unit 116 c are constituted, for example, by aplurality of light-emitting diodes. The first display unit 116 a, thesecond display unit 116 b, and the third display unit 116 c display afacial expression of the robot 100. Specifically, the first display unit116 a, the second display unit 116 b, and the third display unit 116 cdisplay a part of the face, e.g. the eyes or mouth, of the robot 100 asshown in FIG. 2 by individually controlling the turning on of theplurality of light-emitting diodes. In the example shown in FIGS. 2 and3, the first display unit 116 a, the second display unit 116 b, and thethird display unit 116 c display images of the right eye, the left eye,and the mouth, respectively. Moreover, the images of the right eye, theleft eye, and the mouth are emitted outward through the main housing201, which is composed of a transparent or semitransparent member.

As shown in FIG. 3, the robot 100 includes a weight 207 in a lower partof the inside of the main housing 201. For this reason, the robot 100has its center of gravity located below the center of the main housing201. This allows the robot 100 to stably operate.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of therobot 100 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

The robot 100 includes a processor 11, a memory 12, one or more objectrecognition sensors 101, one or more microphones 109, one or moredisplay 116, one or more speakers 118, and a movement mechanism 121.

The movement mechanism 121 causes the robot 100 to move. The movementmechanism 121 includes a first drive wheel 210, a second drive wheel211, a first motor 212, and a second motor 213 (not illustrated).

The processor 11 includes a contour detector 102, an object recognizer103, a blind spot determiner 105, a blind spot counter 107, a soundrecognizer 110, an intention interpreter 111, an action executer 112, aninitial position determiner 113, a main controller 114, a displayinformation output controller 115, and a sound information outputcontroller 117. The memory 12 is for example a nonvolatile semiconductormemory and includes an object position information table 104, a blindspot map table 106, a number-of-blind-spots table 108, a blind spottarget object table 119, and an intention interpretation table 120. Theprocessor 11 and the memory 12 are disposed in a control circuit 209(not illustrated).

The object recognition sensor 101 is a sensor, attached to the robot100, that can recognize the shape of an object. The object recognitionsensor 101 includes, for example, at least one of a camera, an infraredsensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and a laser sensor. The object recognitionsensor 101 detects an electromagnetic wave or sound wave reflected by anobject. A sensor value that is acquired by the object recognition sensor101 is outputted to the contour detector 102 and the object recognizer103. The object recognition sensor 101 includes a camera 208 (notillustrated).

The contour detector 102 receives a sensor value from the objectrecognition sensor 101, determines the shape of an object in a room, anddetects the contours of the object. The contour detector 102 stores, inthe object position information table 104, information indicating thecontours of the object thus detected.

The object recognizer 103 receives a sensor value from the objectrecognition sensor 101 and recognizes the class of an object in a room.In making a determination, the object recognizer 103 recognizes what anobject is that is installed in the room. An object that the objectrecognizer 103 recognizes is not limited to an installation, such as atable, a television, or a curtain, that is installed in the room, andthe room per se is recognized as an object. The object recognizer 103stores, in the object position information table 104, informationindicating the class of the object thus recognized. Further, the objectrecognizer 103 also outputs a recognition result to the main controller114.

The object position information table 104 receives the contours of anobject as detected by the counter detector 102 and the class of theobject as recognized by the object recognizer 103 and has stored thereinin association with one another an object ID for identifying the object,a position range indicating the contours of the object, and the objectclass.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the object positioninformation table 104 according to the present embodiment. An object ID301 is granted as information that identifies an object in storing itsposition range and object class. A position range 302 indicates thecontours of an object and is detected by the counter detector 102. Theposition range 302 in the object position information table 104represents a region of a room or the object in a two-dimensional plane.The position range 302 is expressed, for example, by an aggregate ofcoordinates of the apices of a polygon representing the region of theroom or the object. An object class 303 indicates the class of an objectand is recognized by the object recognizer 103.

The blind spot target object table 119 has stored therein a list ofobjects that can constitute blind spots for the robot 100 when the robot100 plays with a young child. The young child is an example of the user,and a target with which the robot 100 interacts is not limited to theyoung child.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the blind spot target objecttable 119 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, theblind spot target object table 119 has stored therein blind spot targetobjects 501 indicating objects that can constitute blind spots for therobot 100 when the robot 100 plays with the young child. Examples of theblind spot target objects 501 include a sofa, a curtain, a futon, ablanket, and a closet.

The blind spot determiner 105 refers to the object position informationtable 104 and the blind spot target object table 119, compares an objectclass of the object position information table 104 and a blind spottarget object of the blind spot target object table 119 with each other,and creates the blind spot map table 106. The blind spot 105 determinesthe object class as a blind spot target in a case where the object classof the object position information table 104 is included in the blindspot target object table 119.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the blind spot map table 106according to the present embodiment.

The blind spot determiner 105 creates the blind spot map table 106 that,as illustrated in FIG. 7, associates a blind-spot region ID 401, aposition range 402, a region class 403, and a blind spot target 404 withone another for each object subjected to a determination as to whetherit constitutes a blind spot. The blind spot determiner 105 alwaysmonitors changes in value of the object position information table 104,and in the case of a change in value of the object position informationtable 104, the blind spot determiner 105 compares an object class of theobject position information table 104 and a blind spot target object ofthe blind spot target object table 119 with each other and updates theblind spot map table 106.

The blind spot map table 106 is a table that indicates whetherindividual regions indicating objects in a room become blind spots. Asillustrated in FIG. 7, the blind spot map table 106 is represented by aset of the blind-spot region ID 401, the position range 402, the regionclass 403, and the blind spot target 404 and has stored therein for eachregion information indicating whether it becomes a blind spot target.

The blind spot counter 107 divides a region in a room through which therobot 100 is able to move, counts, for each of the plurality of regionsthus divided, the number of objects of blind spot target, included inthe objects of blind spot target of the blind spot map table 106, thatdo not fall within a visual field range of the robot 100 in that region,and stores the number of objects of blind spot target in thenumber-of-blind-spot table 108.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the visual field range of the robot100 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram showingexamples of a plurality of regions divided according to the number ofblind spots according to the present embodiment.

In a case where the robot 100 is in a position shown in FIG. 8, a visualfield range 602 from the robot 100 is a range indicated by diagonallines. It should be noted that the camera that the robot 100 includeshas such a visual field as to be able to shoot 360 degrees in ahorizontal direction. The blind spot counter 107 calculates, as thenumber of blind spots, the number of position ranges of objects of blindspot target of the blind spot map table 106 that do not overlap thevisual field range 602 of the robot 100. In FIG. 8, the number of blindspots is 1, as only the position range of the closet, which is an objectof blind spot target, does not overlap the visual field range 602. Oncethe blind spot counter 107 counts the number of blind spots for allpositions in a room shown in FIG. 8 through which the robot 100 is ableto move, the room is divided into a plurality of regions 701 to 708shown in FIG. 9. In FIG. 9, the number of blind spots in each of theregions 701, 703, and 705 is 0, the number of blind spots in each of theregions 702, 704, and 706 is 1, and the number of blind spots in each ofthe regions 707 and 708 is 2.

The blind spot counter 107 calculates the number of blind spots in aplurality of positions in the room on the basis of the visual fieldrange of the robot 100 and the positions of objects that constituteblind spot targets, and divides the room into a plurality of regionsaccording to the number of blind spots. The blind spot counter 107stores number-of-blind-spots IDs granted to identify the plurality ofregions, position ranges indicating the respective ranges of theplurality of regions, the respective numbers of blind spots of theplurality of regions, and blind-spot region IDs for identifying therespective blind-spot regions of the plurality of regions in thenumber-of-blind-spots table 108 in association with one another.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the number-of-blind-spotstable 108 according to the present embodiment. In a case where theregions are divided as shown in FIG. 9, the number-of-blind-spots table108 has information stored therein in a format illustrated in FIG. 10.The number-of-blind-spots table 108 (first table) associates theplurality of regions included in the room (predetermined space) and thenumbers of blind spots in the plurality of regions with each other.

The number-of-blind-spots table 108 is created and updated by the blindspot counter 107. As shown in FIG. 10, the number-of-blind-spots table108 is represented by a set of a number-of-blind-spots region ID 801, aposition range 802, the number of blind spots 803, and a blind-spotregion ID 804, and has stored therein the number of blind spots for eachregion in the room. The number-of-blind-spots region ID 801 isidentification information for identifying each of the plurality ofdivided regions. The position range 802 in the number-of-blind-spotstable 108 represents the plurality of divided regions in atwo-dimensional plane. The position range 802 is expressed, for example,by an aggregate of coordinates of the apices of a polygon representingeach of the plurality of regions. The blind-spot region ID 804corresponds to the blind-spot region ID 401 of the blind spot map table106.

The microphone 109 acquires a sound of an area around the robot 100. Themicrophone 109 collects a sound that the young child produces inspeaking to the robot 100, and outputs audio data to the soundrecognizer 110.

The sound recognizer 110 receives a sound from the microphone 109 andconverts it into a speech text of the young child. On completion of thesound conversion, the sound recognizer 110 outputs the resulting speechtext to the intention interpreter 111.

The intention interpreter 111 receives a speech text from the soundrecognizer 110 and determines whether the speed text thus received isincluded in the intention interpretation table 120. In a case where theintention interpreter 111 has determined that the speed text is includedin the intention interpretation table 120, the intention interpreter 111determines the content of an action that the robot 100 should execute.The intention interpreter 111 outputs, to the action executer 112 andthe main controller 114, information indicating the content of theaction thus determined that the robot 100 should execute.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the intention interpretationtable 120 according to the present embodiment.

The intention interpretation table 120 has information stored therein ina format illustrated in FIG. 11. The intention interpretation table 120is represented by a set of a text ID 901 for identifying a speech text,a text 902 indicating the speech text, and an action content 903indicating an action of the robot 100 corresponding to the speech text.The intention interpreter 111 searches for a text 902 that perfectly orpartially matches a speech text received from the sound recognizer 110and, in a case where there exists a text 902 corresponding to the speechtext, extracts an action content 903 corresponding to the text 902.

The action executer 112 receives information indicating the actioncontent 903 from the intention interpreter 111 and executes, on therobot 100, an action corresponding to the action content thusdetermined. In playing a game, supposed in the present disclosure, inwhich the robot 100 seeks for and finds a young child hiding in a room,the action executer 112 instructs the initial position determiner 113 todetermine an initial position of the robot 100 in the room at the startof the game.

In a case where the intention interpreter 111 has determined that anacquired sound contains a first speech to the effect that the userstarts to play hide-and-seek with the robot 100, the initial positiondeterminer 113 selects, with reference to the number-of-blind-spotstable 108 (first table) stored in the memory 12, a region (first region)where the number of blind spots is smallest in the room (predeterminedspace).

The initial position determiner 113 is called by the action executer 112to select, with reference to the number-of-blind-spots table 108, aregion where the number of blind spots 803 is smallest. In a case wherethere exist a plurality of regions where the number of blind spots 803is smallest, the initial position determiner 113 selects one region fromamong the plurality of regions. In so doing, there is no particularlimit to a method for selecting a region, provided one region isselected. For example, the initial position determiner 113 may randomlyselect one region from among the plurality of regions where the numberof blind spots 803 is smallest or may calculate the area of each regionfrom the position range 802 and selects a region that is largest inarea. The initial position determiner 113 instructs the main controller114 to cause the robot 100 to move to the region thus selected.

The main controller 114 receives a region indicating the initialposition of the robot 100 from the initial position determiner 113. At astage where the region has been designated, the main controller 114executes a sequence of the game, supposed in the present disclosure, inwhich the robot 100 seeks for and finds a young child hiding in a room.It should be noted that the game in the present embodiment ishide-and-seek. Further, in hide-and-seek, the young child hides and therobot 100 seeks for the young child. Further, the outcome of usualhide-and-seek is determined by the robot 100 finding (detecting) theyoung child. However, the outcome of hide-and-seek of the presentembodiment is further determined by the robot 100 moving to the blindspot in which the young child is hiding, outputting a sound indicatingthat the robot 100 has found the young child, and acquiring a speechsound of the young child indicating whether he/she has lost inhide-and-seek.

First, the main controller 114 transmits, to the display informationoutput controller 115, facial expression data to be displayed inpreparing for hide-and-seek and transmits, to the sound informationoutput controller 117, audio data to be outputted in preparing forhide-and-seek. The display information output controller 115 generates afacial expression of the robot 100 on the basis of the facial expressiondata. The sound information output controller 117 generates a sound ofthe robot 100 on the basis of the audio data.

After that, the main controller 114 instructs the movement mechanism 121to move to a region that becomes an initial position determined by theinitial position determiner 113 and monitors completion of movement ofthe robot 100. The main controller 114 controls the movement mechanism121 to cause the robot 100 to move to a region (first region) selectedby the initial position determiner 113. In accordance with theinstruction from the main controller 114, the movement mechanism 121causes the robot 100 to move to the initial position. It should be notedthat the initial position is for example a center (barycentric) positionof the region thus selected.

On completion of movement of the robot 100, the main controller 114starts hide-and-seek. The main controller 114 transmits, to the displayinformation output controller 115, facial expression data to bedisplayed in preparing for hide-and-seek and transmits, to the soundinformation output controller 117, audio data to be outputted inpreparing for hide-and-seek. The sound information output controller 117generates, on the basis of the audio data, a first sound indicating thestart of hide-and-seek and causes the speaker 118 to output the firstsound. The display information output controller 115 generates a facialexpression of the robot 100 on the basis of the facial expression dataand, in causing the first sound to be outputted, causes the display 116to display a first display corresponding to the first sound. The display116 displays the facial expression of the robot 100 with both eyes andthe mouth. The first display indicates a smile.

Then, the main controller 114 counts a predetermined number. The maincontroller 114 starts to count time during which the young child hidesand, after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, checks with theyoung child whether he/she has finished hiding. When counting thepredetermined number, the main controller 114 causes the objectrecognition sensor 101 to trace a movement locus of the user. Whilecounting, the main controller 114 tracks a motion of the young child inaccordance with data that it receives from the object recognizer 103. Ina case where the main controller 114 has finished counting thepredetermined number, the sound information output controller 117 causesthe speaker 118 to output a sound indicating that the main controllerhas finished counting the predetermined number. By receiving, from theintention interpreter 111, an action of starting seeking or postponingthe start of seeking, the main controller 114 checks whether the youngchild has finished hiding. On receiving the action of starting seekingor postponing the start of seeking, the main controller 114 counts againthe time during which the young child hides.

In a case where the main controller 114 has determined that a soundacquired by the microphone 109 contains a speech (second speech)indicating that the user has finished hiding, the main controller 114controls the movement mechanism 121 to cause the robot 100 to movethrough the entire region in the room (predetermined space) throughwhich the robot 100 is able to move. On receiving the action of startingseeking from the intention interpreter 111, the main controller 114instructs the movement mechanism 121 to move through every place in theroom in order to find the hiding young child. In accordance with thisinstruction, the robot 100 starts to move through the inside of theroom.

While the robot 100 is moving, the main controller 114 receives, fromthe object recognizer 103, an image of any object that comes into sightof the robot 100. In a case where the object recognition sensor 101 hasdetected the young child by the time the robot 100 finishes movingthrough the entire region, the sound information output controller 117causes the speaker 118 to output a sound (third sound) indicating thatthe robot 100 has won a victory over the young child in hide-and-seek.That is, in a case where the young child, who is a target of seeking,comes into sight of the robot 100 while the robot 100 is moving, themain controller 114 causes the robot 100 to move to the position of theyoung child, transmits, to the display information output controller115, facial expression data indicating that the robot 100 has found theyoung child, and transmits, to the sound information output controller117, audio data indicating the robot 100 has found the young child.

In a case where the object recognition sensor 101 has not detected theyoung child by the time the robot 100 finishes moving through the entireregion, the main controller 114 selects, with reference to the blindspot map table 106 (second table) stored in the memory 12, a blind spot(first blind spot) falling within a predetermined range from an end ofthe movement locus of the young child. That is, in a case where theyoung child, who is the target of seeking, comes into sight of the robot100 while the robot 100 is moving, the main controller 114 extracts,with reference to the blind spot map table 106, a blind-spot region thatlies ahead of the end of the locus of the young child traced during thecounting.

Further, since the robot 100 stores the movement locus of the youngchild, the robot 100 can find the young child with a high probability byselecting the blind spot closest to the end of the movement locus, sothat there is a possibility that the robot 100 always wins a victoryover the young child in hide-and-seek. To address this problem, therobot 100 is configured to lose to the young child in hide-and-seek byintentionally making a mistake with a predetermined probability infinding the position in which the young child is hiding. The maincontroller 114 determines whether the robot 100 intentionally loses inhide-and-seek. In a case where the main controller 114 has determinedthat the robot 100 does not intentionally lose, the main controller 114controls the movement mechanism 121 to cause the robot 100 to move tothe blind-spot region (first blind spot) thus extracted. In a case wherea plurality of blind-spot regions have been extracted, the maincontroller 114 selects one blind-spot region as a destination ofmovement.

Further, in a case where the main controller 114 has determined that therobot 100 intentionally loses, the main controller 114 selects, withreference to the blind spot map table 106 (second table), a blind spot(second blind spot) falling outside the predetermined range from the endof the movement locus of the young child. Then, the main controller 114controls the movement mechanism 121 to cause the robot 100 to move tothe blind spot (second blind spot) thus selected.

After completion of movement to the blind spot (first blind spot)falling within the predetermined range from the end of the movementlocus of the young child or the blind spot (second blind spot) fallingoutside the predetermined range from the end of the movement locus ofthe young child, the sound information output controller 117 causes thespeaker 118 to output a second sound indicating that the robot 100 hasfound the young child. In causing the second sound to be outputted, thedisplay information output controller 115 causes the display 116 todisplay a second display corresponding to the second sound. The seconddisplay indicates a smile. That is, the main controller 114 transmits,to the display information output controller 115, facial expression dataindicating that the robot 100 has found the young child, and transmits,to the sound information output controller 117, audio data indicatingthat the robot 100 has found the young child.

The main controller 114 determines whether a sound acquired by themicrophone 109 contains a speech (third speech) indicating an admissionof defeat by the young child. In a case where the main controller 114has determined that the sound acquired by the microphone 109 containsthe speech (third speech) indicating an admission of defeat by the youngchild, the sound information output controller 117 causes the speaker118 to output a sound (third sound) indicating that the robot 100 haswon a victory over the young child in hide-and-seek. In causing thethird sound to be outputted, the display information output controller115 causes the display 116 to display a third display corresponding tothe third sound. The third display indicates a smile. In the case of areception from the intention interpreter 111 to the effect that theyoung child has made a speech indicating he/she has been found by therobot 100, the main controller 114 transmits, to the display informationoutput controller 115, facial expression data indicating that the robot100 has won, and transmits, to the sound information output controller117, audio data indicating that the robot 100 has won. The soundinformation output controller 117 generates, on the basis of the audiodata, the third sound indicating that the robot 100 has won, and causesthe speaker 118 to output the third sound. The display informationoutput controller 115 generates, on the basis of the facial expressiondata, the third display indicating that the robot 100 has won, andcauses the display 116 to display the third display.

On the other hand, in a case where the intention interpreter 111 hasdetermined that the sound acquired by the microphone 109 does notcontain the speech (third speech) indicating an admission of defeat bythe young child, the sound information output controller 117 causes thespeaker 118 to output a sound (fourth sound) indicating that the robot100 has lost to the young child in hide-and-seek. In causing the fourthsound to be outputted, the display information output controller 115causes the display 116 to display a fourth display corresponding to thefourth sound. The fourth sound indicates a facial expression of sorrow.In the case of a reception from the intention interpreter 111 to theeffect that the young child has made a speech indicating that the robot100 has made a mistake in finding the young child, the main controller114 transmits, to the display information output controller 115, facialexpression data indicating that the robot 100 has been defeated, andtransmits, to the sound information output controller 117, audio dataindicating that the robot 100 has been defeated. The sound informationoutput controller 117 generates, on the basis of the audio data, thefourth sound indicating that the robot 100 has been defeated, and causesthe speaker 118 to output the fourth sound. The display informationoutput controller 115 generates, on the basis of the facial expressiondata, the fourth display indicating that the robot 100 has beendefeated, and causes the display 116 to display the fourth display.

In a case where the intention interpreter 111 has determined that thesound acquired by the microphone 109 does not contain the speech (thirdspeech) indicating an admission of defeat by the young child and wherethe object recognition sensor 101 has detected the young child hiding ina blind spot (third blind spot) that is not included in the blind spotmap table 106 (second table), the main controller 114 may store thethird blind spot and the position of the third blind spot in the blindspot map table 106 (second table) in association with each other. Thatis, in a case where when the robot 100 has been defeated, the place inwhich the young child was hiding is not included as a blind spot targetin the blind spot map table 106, the main controller 114 may add, as ablind spot target to the blind spot map table 106, an object placed inthe place in which the young child was hiding.

The display information output controller 115 receives facial expressiondata of the robot 100 from the main controller 114 and controls how thedisplay 116 performs a display.

The display 116 receives facial expression data from the displayinformation output controller 115 and displays a facial expression ofthe robot 100. The display 116 is constituted, for example, by an LED(light-emitting diodes), an LCD (liquid crystal display), or an organicEL (electroluminescence). The display 116 may be constituted by one ormore displays and may be configured in any way that can express a facialexpression of the robot 100. In the present embodiment, the display 116includes the first to third display unit 116 a, the second display unit116 b, and the third display unit 116 c, which are shown in FIG. 3.

The sound information output controller 117 receives audio data of therobot 100 from the main controller 114 and controls how the speaker 118outputs a sound.

The speaker 118 receives audio data from the sound information outputcontroller 117 and reproduces the audio data thus received.

The interaction apparatus 200 includes the processor 11, the memory 12,the object recognition sensor 101, the microphone 109, the display 116,the speaker 118, and the movement mechanism 121. The interactionapparatus 200 does not need to include the display 116.

Further, some or all of the components of the processor 11 and thememory 12 may be provided in a server communicably connected to therobot 100 via a network.

In the following, processes for creating and updating the objectposition information table 104, the blind spot map table 106, and thenumber-of-blind-spots table 108 from data of the object recognitionsensor 101 are described with reference to FIGS. 12, 13, and 14,respectively.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing an example of the process for creatingthe object position information table 104 on the basis of the data ofthe object recognition sensor 101 according to the present embodiment.

First, in step S1, in order to create the object position informationtable 104, the main controller 114 instructs the movement mechanism 121so that the robot 100 randomly moves through a region in a room throughwhich the robot 100 is able to move. Autonomously or in accordance withan instruction from the user, the main controller 114 starts a movementto create the object position information table 104. In autonomouslycreating the object position information table 104, the main controller114 may start, for example every one day or every one week, a movementto create the object position information table 104. Although step S1assumes that the robot 100 randomly moves, the robot 100 does not needto randomly move, provided the robot 100 is able to move through everyplace in the region in the room through which the robot 100 is able tomove. In accordance with the instruction from the main controller 114,the movement mechanism 121 causes the robot 100 to randomly move.

Next, in step S2, the main controller 114 instructs the objectrecognition sensor 101 to photograph the inside of the room while therobot 100 is moving. The object recognition sensor 101 photographs theinside of the room and outputs photographed data to the contour detector102 and the object recognizer 103.

Next, in step S3, the contour detector 102 detects the contours of theroom and the contours of an object in the room using the photographeddata outputted from the object recognition sensor 101.

Next, in step S4, the object recognizer 103 recognizes the class of theroom and the class of the object in the room using the photographed dataoutputted from the object recognition sensor 101.

Next, in step S5, the contour detector 102 stores the contours of theroom and the contours of the object in the room as position ranges inthe object position information table 104, and the object recognizer 103stores the class of the room and the class of the object in the room asobject classes in the object position information table 104. In a casewhere only the contour detector 102 has stored a position range in theobject position information table 104, only the object ID 301 and theposition range 302 are stored.

Next, in step S6, the main controller 114 determines whether the robot100 has moved through the whole of the region through which the robot100 is able to move. In a case where the main controller 114 hasdetermined here that the robot 100 has moved through the whole of theregion through which the robot 100 is able to move (YES in step S6), theprocess is ended.

On the other hand, In a case where the main controller 114 hasdetermined that the robot 100 has not moved through the whole of theregion through which the robot 100 is able to move (NO in step S6), theprocess returns to step S1.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing an example of the process for creatingthe blind spot map table 106 on the basis of data of the object positioninformation table 104 according to the present embodiment.

First, in step S11, the blind spot determiner 105 monitors a change tothe object position information table 104.

Next, in step S12, the blind spot determiner 105 determines whether theobject position information table 104 has been changed. In a case wherethe blind spot determiner 105 has determined here that the objectposition information table 104 has not been changed (NO in step S12),the process returns to step S11.

On the other hand, in a case where the blind spot determiner 105 hasdetermined that the object position information table 104 has beenchanged (YES in step S12), the process proceeds to step S13, in whichthe blind spot determiner 105 refers to the blind spot target objecttable 119 to acquire a list of objects that the robot 100 judges asblind spot targets.

Next, in step S14, the blind spot determiner 105 compares the objectposition information table 104 and the blind spot target object table119 with each other to identify, from among object classes stored in theobject position information table 104, an object class that constitutesa blind spot target for the robot 100. In the case of the layout of FIG.1, the blind spot determiner 105 identifies the sofa 1002, the closet1003, and the curtain 1004 as object classes that constitute blind spottargets.

Next, in step S15, the blind spot determiner 105 stores informationindicating whether an object class constitutes a blind spot target inthe blind spot map table 106 in association with each region class. Theblind spot determiner 105 stores position ranges and object classesstored in the object position information table 104 as position rangesand region classes in the blind spot map table 106.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing an example of the process for creatingand updating the number-of-blind-spots table 108 on the basis of data ofthe blind spot map table 106 according to the present embodiment.

First, in step S21, the blind spot counter 107 monitors a change to theblind spot map table 106.

Next, in step S22, the blind spot counter 107 determines whether theblind spot map table 106 has been changed. In a case where the blindspot counter 107 has determined here that the blind spot map table 106has not been changed (NO in step S22), the process returns to step S21.

On the other hand, in a case where the blind spot counter 107 hasdetermined that the blind spot map table 106 has been changed (YES instep S22), the process proceeds to step S23, in which in order to count,at each set of coordinates of the region in the room through which therobot 100 is able to move, the number of blind-spot regions fallingoutside a visual field range that can be seen from a point of view ofthe robot 100, the blind spot counter 107 randomly selects one set ofcoordinates from the region in the room through which the robot 100 isable to move. For example, the blind point counter 107 selectscoordinates corresponding to the position of the robot 100 shown in FIG.8.

Next, in step S24, the blind spot counter 107 calculates the visualfield range of the robot 100 at the coordinates thus selected and countsthe number of regions of blind spot target that are present outside thevisual field range. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the number of blindspots is 1, as the closet is the only blind spot target that is presentoutside the visual field range 602 of the robot 100. In so doing, it ispreferable that the blind spot counter 107 make the number of blindspots at all coordinates falling within a circle of a predeterminedradius centered at the coordinates at which the number of blind spotswas counted equal to the number of blind spots thus counted. Forexample, the blind spot counter 107 may make the number of blind spotsat coordinates falling within a circle having a radius of 10 cm equal tothe number of blind spots at the coordinates of the center. Although itis assumed here that the number of blind spots at all coordinatesfalling within a circle of a predetermined radius centered at thecoordinates at which the number of blind spots was counted is equal tothe number of blind spots thus counted, the circle does not necessarilyimply any limitation. This makes it possible to eliminate the processfor counting the number of blind spots.

Next, in step S25, the blind spot counter 107 determines whether it hascounted the number of blind spots at all of the coordinates of theregion in the room through which the robot 100 is able to move.

In a case where the blind spot counter 107 has determined here that ithas not counted the number of blind spots at all of the coordinates (NOin step S25), the process proceeds to step S26, in which the blind spotcounter 107 selects, from the region in the room through which the robot100 is able to move, other coordinates at which the number of blindspots has not been counted, and the process returns to step S24.

On the other hand, in a case where the blind spot counter 107 hasdetermined here that it has counted the number of blind spots at all ofthe coordinates (YES in step S25), the process proceeds to step S27, inwhich the blind spot counter 107 divides the region in the room throughwhich the robot 100 is able to move into a plurality of regionsaccording to the number of blind spots thus counted and stores thenumber of blind spots in the number-of-blind-spots table 108 inassociation with each of the regions thus divided. That is, the blindspot counter 107 stores a number-of-blind-spots ID that identifies eachof the regions thus divided, a position range indicating the range ofeach of the regions thus divided, the number of blind spots of each ofthe regions thus divided, and a blind-spot region ID for identifying theblind-spot region of each of the regions thus divided in thenumber-of-blind-spots table 108 in association with one another. Theblind spot counter 107 divides the region in the room through which therobot 100 is able to move into regions constituted by coordinates atwhich the numbers of blind spots counted are equal.

In the present embodiment, in the case of discovery of coordinates atwhich there is no region of blind spot target outside the visual fieldrange, i.e. in the case of discovery of coordinates at which the numberof blind spots counted is 0, the blind spot counter 107 may execute stepS27 without selecting other coordinates at that point of time.

In the following, a process by which the robot 100 finds a young childhiding in a room is described with reference to FIGS. 15, 16, and 17.

FIG. 15 is a first flow chart for explaining an example of the processby which the robot 100 and the young child play hide-and-seek accordingto the present embodiment. FIG. 16 is a second flow chart for explainingthe example of the process by which the robot and the young child playhide-and-seek according to the present embodiment. FIG. 17 is a thirdflow chart for explaining the example of the process by which the robotand the young child play hide-and-seek according to the presentembodiment.

First, in step S31, the intention interpreter 111 determines whether asound acquired by the microphone 109 contains a first speech to theeffect that hide-and-seek is started. In starting hide-and-seek, theyoung child uses his/her voice to announce his/her intention to want toplay hide-and-seek. The intention interpreter 111 determines whether thecontent of a speech made by the young child is a speech indicating thathide-and-seek is started.

In a case where the intention interpreter 111 has determined that thesound thus acquired does not contain the first speech to the effect thathide-and-seek is started (NO in step S31), the determination process ofstep S31 is repeatedly executed.

On the other hand, in a case where the intention interpreter 111 hasdetermined that the sound thus acquired contains the first speech to theeffect that hide-and-seek is started (YES in step S31), the actionexecuter 112 instructs the initial position determiner 113 to determinethe initial position of the robot 100 in the room so that hide-and-seekis started.

Next, in step S33, the initial position determiner 113 selects, from thenumber-of-blind-spots table 108, a region where the number of blindspots is smallest, and determines the region thus selected as theinitial position of the robot 100. In a case where there exist aplurality of regions where the number of blind spots is smallest, theinitial position determiner 113 selects one region from among theplurality of regions. The initial position determiner 113 may randomlyselect one region from among the plurality of regions or may select,from among the plurality of regions, a region that is largest in area.There is no particular limit to a method for selecting one region fromamong the plurality of regions where the number of blind spots issmallest.

Since a region where the number of blind spots is smallest is thusdetermined as the initial position of the robot 100, the largest numberof blind-spot regions can be put within the visual field of the camera,so that the locus of a movement of the young child hiding in ablind-spot region can be more accurately traced.

Next, in step S34, in order to respond to the speech made by the youngchild to start hide-and-seek, the sound information output controller117 outputs a sound indicating a response to the first speech to theeffect that hide-and-seek is started.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing examples of speech text patterns that areoutputted from the speaker 118 according to the present embodiment. Thememory 12 of the robot 100 has stored therein a speech text patterntable shown in FIG. 18. The speech text pattern table is a table inwhich speech IDs 1601 for identifying from one situation to another thetexts of speeches that the robot 100 makes and speech texts 1602 ofspeeches that the robot 100 makes in various situations are associatedwith each other. In response to the first speech to the effect thathide-and-seek is started, the sound information output controller 117for example selects a speech text 1602 corresponding to a speech ID 1601of “1” shown in FIG. 18, converts the speech text 1602 thus selectedinto a sound, and outputs the sound from the speaker 118. In the presentembodiment, in a case where a plurality of speech texts are associatedwith one speech ID, the sound information output controller 117 randomlyselects one speech text from among the plurality of speech texts.

Next, in step S35, in order to respond to the speech made by the youngchild to start hide-and-seek, the display information output controller115 displays a facial expression indicating a response to the firstspeech to the effect that hide-and-seek is started.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing examples of expression patterns that aredisplayed on the display 116 according to the present embodiment. Thememory 12 of the robot 100 has stored therein a facial expressionpattern table shown in FIG. 19. The facial expression pattern table is atable in which facial expression IDs 1701 for identifying from onesituation to another facial expressions that the robot 100 displays andfacial expression patterns 1702 that the robot 100 displays in varioussituations are associated with each other. In response to the firstspeech to the effect that hide-and-seek is started, the displayinformation output controller 115 for example selects a facialexpression pattern 1702 corresponding to a facial expression ID 1701 of“1” shown in FIG. 19 and displays, on the display 116, the facialexpression 1702 thus selected. In the present embodiment, in a casewhere a plurality of facial expression patterns are associated with onefacial expression ID, the display information output controller 115randomly selects one facial expression pattern from among the pluralityof facial expression patterns.

Next, in step S36, the main controller 114 controls the movementmechanism 121 to cause the robot 100 to move to the region thusselected. The main controller 114 instructs the movement mechanism 121to cause the robot 100 to move to the region thus selected. Inaccordance with the instruction from the main controller 114, themovement mechanism 121 causes the robot 100 to move to the region thusselected. For example, the main controller 114 causes the robot 100 tomove to the barycentric position of the region thus selected.

Next, in step S37, the sound information output controller 117 outputs,from the speaker 118, a sound (first sound) indicating the start ofhide-and-seek. In outputting the sound indicating the start ofhide-and-seek, the sound information output controller 117 for exampleselects a speech text 1602 corresponding to a speech ID 1601 of “2”shown in FIG. 18, converts the speech text 1602 thus selected into asound, and outputs the sound from the speaker 118. In the presentembodiment, in a case where a plurality of speech texts are associatedwith one speech ID, the sound information output controller 117 randomlyselects one speech text from among the plurality of speech texts.

Next, in step S38, the display information output controller 115displays, on the display 116, a facial expression (first display)indicating the start of hide-and-seek. In displaying the facialexpression indicating the start of hide-and-seek, the displayinformation output controller 115 for example selects a facialexpression pattern 1702 corresponding to a facial expression ID 1701 of“2” shown in FIG. 19 and displays, on the display 116, the facialexpression 1702 thus selected. In the present embodiment, in a casewhere a plurality of facial expression patterns are associated with onefacial expression ID, the display information output controller 115randomly selects one facial expression pattern from among the pluralityof facial expression patterns.

After step S38, the young child starts hide-and-seek and moves throughthe inside of the room in order to hide.

Next, in step S39, the display information output controller 115displays, on the display 116, a facial expression indicating that therobot 100 is not watching the young child. In displaying the facialexpression indicating that the robot 100 is not watching the youngchild, the display information output controller 115 for example selectsa facial expression pattern 1702 corresponding to a facial expression ID1701 of “4” shown in FIG. 19 and displays, on the display 116, thefacial expression 1702 thus selected. In the present embodiment, in acase where a plurality of facial expression patterns are associated withone facial expression ID, the display information output controller 115randomly selects one facial expression pattern from among the pluralityof facial expression patterns.

Next, in step S40, the main controller 114 starts to count time duringwhich for the young child to hide in the room. Time until the end of thecounting is set in advance. For example, a period of 30 seconds or 1minute is set in advance.

Next, in step S41, while counting time, the main controller 114 uses therecognition sensor 101 and the object recognizer 103 to trace a movementlocus of the young child. The main controller 114 treats the position ofthe young child in the room at the start of the counting as a startingpoint and traces the movement locus of the young child from the startingpoint. The main controller 114 stores, in the memory 12, the movementlocus of the young child thus traced.

Next, in step S42, the sound information output controller 117 outputs,from the speaker 118, a sound indicating the end of the counting. Inoutputting the sound indicating the end of the counting, the soundinformation output controller 117 for example selects a speech text 1602corresponding to a speech ID 1601 of “3” shown in FIG. 18, converts thespeech text 1602 thus selected into a sound, and outputs the sound fromthe speaker 118. In the present embodiment, in a case where a pluralityof speech texts are associated with one speech ID, the sound informationoutput controller 117 randomly selects one speech text from among theplurality of speech texts.

Next, in step S43, the intention interpreter 111 determines whether asound acquired by the microphone 109 contains a second speech indicatingthat the young child has finished hiding.

In a case where the intention interpreter 111 has determined here thatthe sound thus acquired does not contain the second speech indicatingthat the young child has finished hiding (NO in step S43), the processreturns to step S40. In a case where the sound thus acquired does notcontain the second speech indicating that the young child has finishedhiding, the intention interpreter 111 may determine whether the soundthus acquired contains a speech indicating a postponement of the startof seeking. In a case where the intention interpreter 111 has determinedthat the sound thus acquired contains a speech indicating a postponementof the start of seeking, the process may return to step S40. In a casewhere the intention interpreter 111 has determined that the sound thusacquired does not contain a speech indicating a postponement of thestart of seeking, the process may proceed to step S44, as it isestimated that the young child has finished hiding.

On the other hand, in a case where the intention interpreter 111 hasdetermined here that the sound thus acquired contains the second speechindicating that the young child has finished hiding (YES in step S43),the process proceeds to step S44, in which the action executer 112instructs the main controller 114 to start to seek for the young child.

Next, in step S45, the sound information output controller 117 outputs,from the speaker 118, a sound indicating the start of seeking for theyoung child. In outputting the sound indicating the start of seeking forthe young child, the sound information output controller 117 for exampleselects a speech text 1602 corresponding to a speech ID 1601 of “4”shown in FIG. 18, converts the speech text 1602 thus selected into asound, and outputs the sound from the speaker 118. In the presentembodiment, in a case where a plurality of speech texts are associatedwith one speech ID, the sound information output controller 117 randomlyselects one speech text from among the plurality of speech texts.

Next, in step S46, the display information output controller 115displays, on the display 116, a facial expression indicating the startof seeking for the young child. In displaying the facial expressionindicating the start of seeking for the young child, the displayinformation output controller 115 for example selects a facialexpression pattern 1702 corresponding to a facial expression ID 1701 of“1” shown in FIG. 19 and displays, on the display 116, the facialexpression 1702 thus selected. In the present embodiment, in a casewhere a plurality of facial expression patterns are associated with onefacial expression ID, the display information output controller 115randomly selects one facial expression pattern from among the pluralityof facial expression patterns.

Next, in step S47, on receiving the instruction to start to seek for theyoung child, the main controller 114 controls the movement mechanism 121to cause the robot 100 to start to move. At this point in time, the maincontroller 114 controls the movement mechanism 121 to cause the robot100 to move through the entire region in the room through which therobot 100 is able to move. In so doing, the main controller 114 maycause the robot 100 to randomly move to search everywhere in the entireroom or may move while storing a movement locus of the robot 100 so asto reduce the number of regions through which the robot 100 has notmoved. There is no particular limit to how to move. Further, the maincontroller 114 seeks for the young child during a movement. At thispoint in time, the main controller 114 uses the object recognitionsensor 101 and the object recognizer 103 to seek for the young child soas to detect the face of the young child stored in advance. The face ofthe young child may be stored at the start of hide-and-seek such as aperiod of time between step S39 and step S40, or may be user-registeredin advance.

Next, in step S48, the main controller 114 determines whether the youngchild, who is the target of seeking, has been detected by the objectrecognition sensor 101 and the object recognizer 103 while the robot 100is moving. In a case where the main controller 114 has determined thatthe young child, who is the target of seeking, has been detected duringthe movement (YES in step S48), the process proceeds to step S55.

On the other hand, in a case where the main controller 114 hasdetermined that the young child, who is the target of seeking, has notbeen detected during the movement (NO in step S48), the process proceedsto step S49, in which the main controller 114 determines whether therobot 100 has finished moving through the entire region in the roomthrough which the robot 100 is able to move. In a case where the maincontroller 114 has determined here that the robot 100 has not finishedmoving through the entire region in the room through which the robot 100is able to move (NO in step S49), the process returns to step S48.

On the other hand, in a case where the main controller 114 hasdetermined here that the robot 100 has finished moving through theentire region in the room through which the robot 100 is able to move(YES in step S49), the process proceeds to step S50, in which byutilizing the movement locus of the young child traced, the maincontroller 114 selects, from the blind spot map table 106, a firstblind-spot region that is present within a predetermined range from anend of the movement locus of the young child. In a case where aplurality of blind-spot regions are present within the predeterminedrange from the end of the movement locus, the main controller 114selects one blind-spot region from among the plurality of blind-spotregions falling within the predetermined range. At this point in time,the main controller 114 may randomly select one blind-spot region fromamong the plurality of blind-spot regions falling within thepredetermined range or may select one blind-spot region that is closestto the end from among the plurality of blind-spot regions falling withinthe predetermined range.

Next, in step S51, the main controller 114 determines whether the robot100 intentionally loses. At this point in time, the main controller 114randomly determines whether the robot 100 intentionally loses. Aprobability of intentional losing is designated in advance for the robot100.

In a case where the main controller 114 has determined that the robot100 does not intentionally lose (NO in step S51), the process proceedsto step S52, in which the main controller 114 controls the movementmechanism 121 to cause the robot 100 to move to the first blind-spotregion thus selected.

On the other hand, in a case where the main controller 114 hasdetermined that the robot 100 intentionally loses (YES in step S51), theprocess proceeds to step S53, in which by utilizing the movement locusof the young child traced, the main controller 114 selects, from theblind spot map table 106, a second blind-spot region that is presentoutside the predetermined range from the end of the movement locus ofthe young child. In a case where a plurality of blind-spot regions arepresent outside the predetermined range from the end of the movementlocus of the young child, the main controller 114 selects one blind-spotregion from among the plurality of blind-spot regions falling outsidethe predetermined range. At this point in time, the main controller 114may randomly select one blind-spot region from among the plurality ofblind-spot regions falling outside the predetermined range or may selectone blind-spot region that is farthest from the end from among theplurality of blind-spot regions falling outside the predetermined range.

Next, in step S54, the main controller 114 controls the movementmechanism 121 to cause the robot 100 to move to the second blind-spotregion thus selected.

Next, in step S55, the sound information output controller 117 outputs,from the speaker 118, a sound (second sound) indicating that the robot100 has found the young child. In outputting the sound indicating thatthe robot 100 has found the young child, the sound information outputcontroller 117 for example selects a speech text 1602 corresponding to aspeech ID 1601 of “5” shown in FIG. 18, converts the speech text 1602thus selected into a sound, and outputs the sound from the speaker 118.In the present embodiment, in a case where a plurality of speech textsare associated with one speech ID, the sound information outputcontroller 117 randomly selects one speech text from among the pluralityof speech texts.

Next, in step S56, the display information output controller 115displays, on the display 116, a display (second display) indicating thatthe robot 100 has found the young child. In displaying the facialexpression indicating that the robot 100 has found the young child, thedisplay information output controller 115 for example selects a facialexpression pattern 1702 corresponding to a facial expression ID 1701 of“2” shown in FIG. 19 and displays, on the display 116, the facialexpression 1702 thus selected. In the present embodiment, in a casewhere a plurality of facial expression patterns are associated with onefacial expression ID, the display information output controller 115randomly selects one facial expression pattern from among the pluralityof facial expression patterns.

In a case where steps S55 and S56 have been executed after the maincontroller 114 has determined in step S48 that the young child, who isthe target of seeking, has been detected while the robot 100 is moving,the hide-and-seek process may be ended, as it is clear that the robot100 has won.

Next, in step S57, the intention interpreter 111 determines whether asound acquired by the microphone 109 contains a third sound indicatingan admission of defeat by the young child, who is the target of seeking.

In a case where the intention interpreter 111 has determined that thesound thus acquired contains the third speech indicating an admission ofdefeat by the young child, who is the target of seeking (YES in stepS57), the process proceeds to step S58, in which the sound informationoutput controller 117 outputs, from the speaker 118, a sound (thirdsound) indicating that the robot 100 has won a victory over the youngchild in hide-and-seek. In outputting the sound indicating that therobot 100 has won a victory over the young child in hide-and-seek, thesound information output controller 117 for example selects a speechtext 1602 corresponding to a speech ID 1601 of “6” shown in FIG. 18,converts the speech text 1602 thus selected into a sound, and outputsthe sound from the speaker 118. In the present embodiment, in a casewhere a plurality of speech texts are associated with one speech ID, thesound information output controller 117 randomly selects one speech textfrom among the plurality of speech texts.

Next, in step S59, the display information output controller 115displays, on the display 116, a facial expression (third display)indicating that the robot 100 has won a victory over the young child inhide-and-seek. In displaying the facial expression indicating that therobot 100 has won a victory over the young child in hide-and-seek, thedisplay information output controller 115 for example selects a facialexpression pattern 1702 corresponding to a facial expression ID 1701 of“2” shown in FIG. 19 and displays, on the display 116, the facialexpression 1702 thus selected. In the present embodiment, in a casewhere a plurality of facial expression patterns are associated with onefacial expression ID, the display information output controller 115randomly selects one facial expression pattern from among the pluralityof facial expression patterns.

On the other hand, in a case where the intention interpreter 111 hasdetermined that the sound thus acquired does not contain the thirdspeech indicating an admission of defeat by the young child, who is thetarget of seeking (NO in step S57), the process proceeds to step S60, inwhich the sound information output controller 117 outputs, from thespeaker 118, a sound (fourth sound) indicating that the robot 100 haslost to the young child in hide-and-seek. In outputting the soundindicating that the robot 100 has lost to the young child inhide-and-seek, the sound information output controller 117 for exampleselects a speech text 1602 corresponding to a speech ID 1601 of “7”shown in FIG. 18, converts the speech text 1602 thus selected into asound, and outputs the sound from the speaker 118. In the presentembodiment, in a case where a plurality of speech texts are associatedwith one speech ID, the sound information output controller 117 randomlyselects one speech text from among the plurality of speech texts.

Next, in step S61, the display information output controller 115displays, on the display 116, a facial expression (fourth display)indicating that the robot 100 has lost to the young child inhide-and-seek. In displaying the facial expression indicating that therobot 100 has lost to the young child in hide-and-seek, the displayinformation output controller 115 for example selects a facialexpression pattern 1702 corresponding to a facial expression ID 1701 of“3” shown in FIG. 19 and displays, on the display 116, the facialexpression 1702 thus selected. In the present embodiment, in a casewhere a plurality of facial expression patterns are associated with onefacial expression ID, the display information output controller 115randomly selects one facial expression pattern from among the pluralityof facial expression patterns.

Thus, after the movement locus of the young child has been traced by theobject recognition sensor 101 when the predetermined number has beencounted and the young child is hiding in the first region where thenumber of blind spots is smallest in the space, a movement to the entireregion through which the robot 100 is able to move is started, and in acase where the object recognition sensor 101 has not detected the youngchild by the time the robot 100 finishes moving through the entireregion, the first blind-spot region falling within the predeterminedrange from the end of the movement locus of the young child is selectedand the robot 100 is moved to the first blind-spot region. Note herethat the first blind spot can be said to be a blind spot in which theyoung child is highly likely to have hidden, as the first blind spotfalls within the predetermined range from the end of the movement locusof the young child. This makes it possible to identify a blind spot inwhich the young child is highly likely to be hiding and that cannot beenseen from the robot 100.

Next, in step S62, the main controller 114 uses the object recognitionsensor 101 and the object recognizer 103 to detect the young child, whois the target of seeking.

Next, in step S63, the main controller 114 determines whether a regioncorresponding to the position of the young child, who is the target ofseeking, thus detected is registered as a blind spot target in the blindspot map table 106. In a case where the main controller 114 hasdetermined that the region corresponding to the position of the youngchild, who is the target of seeking, is registered as a blind spottarget in the blind spot map table 106 (YES in step S63), thehide-and-seek process is ended.

On the other hand, in a case where the main controller 114 hasdetermined that the region corresponding to the position of the youngchild, who is the target of seeking, is not registered as a blind spottarget in the blind spot map table 106 (NO in step S63), the processproceeds to step S64, in which the main controller 114 registers theregion corresponding to the position of detection of the young child asa blind spot target in the blind spot map table 106 and updates theblind spot map table 106.

For example, in the blind spot map table 106 of FIG. 7, the door is notregistered as a blind spot target; therefore, in a case where the youngchild is hiding in the gap between the door and the wall of FIG. 1, therobot 100 cannot identify the position in which the young child ishiding. However, once the young child is detected in a gap 1001 betweenthe door and the wall after the robot 100 has lost, a regioncorresponding to the position of the door where the young child has beendetected is registered as a blind spot target in the blind spot maptable 106 and the blind spot map table 106 is updated. This allows therobot 100 to select the door as a blind-spot region in playing a nextround of hide-and-seek and identify the gap 1001 between the door andthe wall as a position in which the young child is hiding.

In the present disclosure, all or a part of any of unit, device, part orportion, or any of functional blocks in the illustrated block diagramsmay be implemented as one or more of electronic circuits including, butnot limited to, a semiconductor device, a semiconductor integratedcircuit (IC) or an LSI. The LSI or IC can be integrated into one chip,or also can be a combination of plural chips. For example, functionalblocks other than a memory may be integrated into one chip. The nameused here is LSI or IC, but it may also be called system LSI, VLSI (verylarge scale integration), or ULSI (ultra large scale integration)depending on the degree of integration. A Field Programmable Gate Array(FPGA) that can be programmed after manufacturing an LSI or areconfigurable logic device that allows reconfiguration of theconnection or setup of circuit cells inside the LSI can be used for thesame purpose.

Further, it is also possible that all or a part of the functions oroperations of the unit, device, part or portion are implemented byexecuting software. In such a case, the software is recorded on one ormore non-transitory recording media such as a ROM, an optical disk or ahard disk drive, and when the software is executed by a processor, thesoftware causes the processor together with peripheral devices toexecute the functions specified in the software. A system or apparatusmay include such one or more non-transitory recording media on which thesoftware is recorded and a processor together with necessary hardwaredevices such as an interface.

An apparatus, a method, a recording medium storing a program, and arobot according to the present disclosure are useful as an apparatus, amethod, a recording medium storing a program, and a robot that make itpossible to identify a blind spot in which a user is highly likely to behiding and that cannot be seen from the apparatus.

What is claimed is:
 1. A robot for interacting with a user whiletwo-dimensionally moving through a predetermined space, comprising: amovement mechanism configured to physically move the robot across thepredetermined space; a sensor that detects an electromagnetic wave or asound wave reflected by an object; a microphone that acquires a sound ofan area around the robot; a speaker; a processor; and a memory, wherein,in a case where the microphone acquires a first speech indicatingstarting of a game of hide-and-seek with the robot, the processorselects, with reference to a first table stored in the memory, a firstregion of the predetermined space where a number of blind spots issmallest in the predetermined space, the first table associating aplurality of regions included in the predetermined space and numbers ofblind spots present in the plurality of regions with each other, theprocessor controls the movement mechanism to cause the robot tophysically move to the first region, the processor causes the speaker tooutput a first sound, the processor counts a predetermined number, whencounting the predetermined number, the processor causes the sensor totrace a movement locus of the user while the user is detectable by thesensor from a stationary position of the robot and identify an end pointof the movement locus of the user that is detected by the sensor, in acase where the processor has finished counting the predetermined number,the processor causes the speaker to output a sound indicating that theprocessor has finished counting the predetermined number, and theprocessor controls the movement mechanism to cause the robot tophysically move through an entire region in the predetermined spacethrough which the robot is able to move, in a case where the sensor hasnot detected the user by a time the robot finishes moving through theentire region, the processor selects, with reference to a second tablestored in the memory, a first blind spot falling within a predeterminedrange from the end point of the traced movement locus of the user, thesecond table associating a blind spot in the predetermined space and aposition of the blind spot with each other, the processor determineswhether the robot is to intentionally lose in the game of hide-and-seekor not to intentionally lose in the game of hide-and-seek, in a casewhere the processor has determined that the robot is not tointentionally lose in the game of hide-and-seek, the processor controlsthe movement mechanism to cause the robot to physically move to thefirst blind spot and causes the speaker to output a second sound, in acase where the microphone acquires a second speech indicating anadmission of defeat in the game of hide-and-seek by the user, theprocessor causes the speaker to output a third sound, in a case wherethe microphone does not acquire the second speech, the processor causesthe speaker to output a fourth sound, in a case where the processor hasdetermined that the robot is to intentionally lose, the processorselects, with reference to the second table, a second blind spot fallingoutside the predetermined range, the processor controls the movementmechanism to cause the robot to physically move to the second blindspot, and the processor causes the speaker to output the second sound,in a case where the microphone acquires the second speech, the processorcauses the speaker to output the third sound, and in a case where themicrophone does not acquire the second speech, the processor causes thespeaker to output the fourth sound.
 2. The robot according to claim 1,wherein the sensor includes at least one of a camera, an infraredsensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and a laser sensor.
 3. The robot accordingto claim 1, wherein, in a case where the microphone does not acquire thesecond speech and where the sensor detects that the user is hiding in athird blind spot that is not included in the second table, the processorstores the third blind spot and a position of the third blind spot inthe second table in association with each other.
 4. The robot accordingto claim 1, wherein, in a case where the sensor detects the user by thetime the robot finishes moving through the entire region, the processorcauses the speaker to output the third sound.
 5. The robot according toclaim 1, further comprising a display, wherein, in causing the firstsound to be outputted, the processor causes the display to display afirst display corresponding to the first sound, in causing the secondsound to be outputted, the processor causes the display to display asecond display corresponding to the second sound, in causing the thirdsound to be outputted, the processor causes the display to display athird display corresponding to the third sound, and in causing thefourth sound to be outputted, the processor causes the display todisplay a fourth display corresponding to the fourth sound.
 6. The robotaccording to claim 5, wherein the display displays a facial expressionof the robot, the facial expression including two eyes and a mouth, thefirst sound indicates a start of the game of hide-and-seek, and thefirst display indicates a smile.
 7. The robot according to claim 5,wherein the display displays a facial expression of the robot, thefacial expression including two eyes and a mouth, the second soundindicates that the robot has found the user, and the second displayindicates a smile.
 8. The robot according to claim 5, wherein thedisplay displays a facial expression of the robot, the facial expressionincluding two eyes and a mouth, the third sound indicates that the robothas won a victory over the user in the game of hide-and-seek, and thethird display indicates a smile.
 9. The robot according to claim 5,wherein the display displays a facial expression of the robot, thefacial expression including two eyes and a mouth, the fourth soundindicates that the robot has lost to the user in the game ofhide-and-seek, and the fourth display indicates a facial expression ofsorrow.
 10. The robot according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where themicrophone acquires a third speech indicating that the user has finishedhiding, the processor controls the movement mechanism to cause the robotto physically move through the entire region in the predetermined space.11. The robot according to claim 1, further comprising: a main housingthat is a sphere from which a first side part and a second side partopposite to the first side part have been cut; a first spherical crowncorresponding to the first side part; and a second spherical crowncorresponding to the second side part.
 12. A method by which a robotinteracts with a user while two-dimensionally and physically movingthrough a predetermined space, the method comprising: in a case where amicrophone acquires a first speech indicating starting of a game ofhide-and-seek with the robot, selecting, with reference to a first tablestored in the memory, a first region of the predetermined space where anumber of blind spots is smallest in the predetermined space, the firsttable associating a plurality of regions included in the predeterminedspace and numbers of blind spots present in the plurality of regionswith each other; controlling a movement mechanism to cause the robot tophysically move to the first region; causing the speaker to output afirst sound; counting a predetermined number; when counting thepredetermined number, causing a sensor that detects an electromagneticwave or sound wave reflected by an object to trace a movement locus ofthe user while the user is detectable by the sensor from a stationaryposition of the robot and identify an end point of the movement locus ofthe user that is detected by the sensor; in a case where the robot hasfinished counting the predetermined number, causing the speaker tooutput a sound indicating that the robot has finished counting thepredetermined number and controlling the movement mechanism to cause therobot to physically move through an entire region in the predeterminedspace through which the robot is able to move; in a case where thesensor has not detected the user by a time the robot finishes movingthrough the entire region, selecting, with reference to a second tablestored in the memory, a first blind spot falling within a predeterminedrange from the end point of the traced movement locus of the user, thesecond table associating a blind spot in the predetermined space and aposition of the blind spot with each other; determining whether therobot is to intentionally lose in the game of hide-and-seek or not tointentionally lose in the game of hide-and-seek; in a case where therobot has determined that the robot is not to intentionally lose in thegame of hide-and-seek, controlling the movement mechanism to cause therobot to physically move to the first blind spot and cause the speakerto output a second sound; in a case where the microphone acquires asecond speech indicating an admission of defeat in the game ofhide-and-seek by the user, causing the speaker to output a third sound;in a case where the microphone does not acquire the second speech,causing the speaker to output a fourth sound; in a case where the robothas determined that the robot is to intentionally lose, selecting, withreference to the second table, a second blind spot falling outside thepredetermined range, controlling the movement mechanism to cause therobot to physically move to the second blind spot, and causing thespeaker to output the second sound; in a case where the microphoneacquires including the second speech, causing the speaker to output thethird sound; and in a case where the microphone does not acquire thesecond speech, causing the speaker to output the fourth sound.
 13. Anon-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program forinteracting with a user while two-dimensionally moving through apredetermined space, the program causing a processor of a robot forinteracting with the user to execute a process comprising: in a casewhere a microphone acquires a first speech indicating starting of a gameof hide-and-seek with the robot, selecting, with reference to a firsttable stored in the memory, a first region of the predetermined spacewhere a number of blind spots is smallest in the predetermined space,the first table associating a plurality of regions included in thepredetermined space and numbers of blind spots present in the pluralityof regions with each other; controlling a movement mechanism to causethe robot to physically move to the first region; causing the speaker tooutput a first sound; counting a predetermined number; when counting thepredetermined number, causing a sensor that detects an electromagneticwave or sound wave reflected by an object to trace a movement locus ofthe user while the user is detectable by the sensor from a stationaryposition of the robot and identify an end point of the movement locus ofthe user that is detected by the sensor; in a case where the processorhas finished counting the predetermined number, causing the speaker tooutput a sound indicating that the robot has finished counting thepredetermined number, and controlling the movement mechanism to causethe robot to physically move through an entire region in thepredetermined space through which the robot is able to move; in a casewhere the sensor has not detected the user by a time the robot finishesmoving through the entire region, selecting, with reference to a secondtable stored in the memory, a first blind spot falling within apredetermined range from the end point of the traced movement locus ofthe user, the second table associating a blind spot in the predeterminedspace and a position of the blind spot with each other; determiningwhether the robot is to intentionally lose in the game of hide-and-seekor not to intentionally lose in the game of hide-and-seek; in a casewhere the processor has determined that the robot is not tointentionally lose in the game of hide-and-seek, controlling themovement mechanism to cause the robot to physically move to the firstblind spot and causing the speaker to output a second sound; in a casewhere the microphone acquires a second speech indicating an admission ofdefeat in the game of hide-and-seek by the user, causing the speaker tooutput a third sound; in a case where the microphone does not acquirethe second speech, causing the speaker to output a fourth sound, in acase where the processor has determined that the robot is tointentionally lose, selecting, with reference to the second table, asecond blind spot falling outside the predetermined range, controllingthe movement mechanism to cause the robot to physically move to thesecond blind spot, and causing the speaker to output the second sound,in a case where the microphone acquires including the second speech,causing the speaker to output the third sound; and in a case where themicrophone does not acquire the second speech, causing the speaker tooutput the fourth sound.